Post navigation

Using the Bikes as the Gateway to Game Hacking

As part of the special “Yojimbo” backer level of my soon-to-conclude Kickstarter project, I’m currently re-writing my Jedi game conversion of the Motobushido rules. This all began a middling time ago in a basement very close at hand, in which we decided that one of our next playtest sessions would be about Jedi escaping the “Order 66” Jedi Purge.

When I first ran that scenario, the Bikes mechanics weren’t fully implemented, so we just replaced Bikes with The Force. It was that very act of element substitution that actually went on to define how I would implement the Bike mechanics in the first place. It has always been my intention to utilize the Code of the Highway as a representation of spiritual elements in at least some quantity, and as of recent revisions that intention has manifested quite totally.

With the original Jedi conversion, instead of picking specific Bikes and riding styles, the characters picked specific Force Powers to specialize in. It ended up working out very well, and now, looking back over my old notes, I’ve come to understand that the Bike aspect of Motobushido characters is probably the most “driftable” for future game hacks. In the core game, your dedication to the Code of the Highway affects all things spiritual about your character. It sets your Ki, affects its restoration, and can even call your character out on that one last Sunset Ride, never for her to be seen again. It connects to your Bike extension, and investing in its mastery unlocks new Stunts that you can attempt in and out of Duels and Battle.

Swapping that out with Force Powers is so simple, I don’t know why it wasn’t so obvious to me in the first place. What’s next, I wonder? How would this work as a Wizard’s Academy hack? A Thundercats hack? Sailor Moon? Voltron? Airbenders, etc?